TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

• Walt Bellamy, NBA Hall of Fame center, 68
• Barry Bonds, baseball home run king, 3-time NL MVP, 44
• Kadeem Hardison, TV/Movie Actor, A Different World's Dwayne Wayne, 42
• Jennifer Lopez, actress/singer, 39

WILL SMITH IS HOLLYWOOD'S BEST PAID ACTOR

Actor Will Smith is the best paid actor in Hollywood right now, according to Forbes.com. The Hancock star raked in an estimated $80 million for his big-screen efforts between June 1st, 2007, and June 1st, 2008, according to the financial outlet.

• The rapper-turned-action hero is the first actor to have eight straight movies earn more than $100 million at the box office. Hancock is the latest of Smith's top grossing films, following I Am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch and I-Robot.
• Smith's stats put him ahead of Johnny Depp, whose Pirates Of The Caribbean booty totaled $72 million in the past year.

Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy are tied for third best paid, at $55 million apiece, with Leonardo DiCaprio fourth with $45 million, and Bruce Willis, whose resurrected Die Hard character earned him $41 million.

TYLER PERRY SIGNS NEW THREE-YEAR DEAL WITH LIONSGATE

Filmmaker Tyler Perry has signed a new three-year first look deal with Lionsgate covering his upcoming theatrical and home entertainment product. The deal is a renewal of their relationship, which began in 2005 with Diary Of A Mad Black Woman.

• Under the new agreement, Perry will service at least three more films to Lionsgate following the September 12th release of The Family That Preys Together, and the February 20th, 2009 release of Madea Goes To Jail.
• Perry's partnership with Lionsgate has proven fruitful. His five previous films, including Diary Of A Mad Housewife, 2006's Madea's Family Reunion, 2007's Daddy's Little Girls and Why Did I Get Married? and 2008's Meet The Browns have cumulatively grossed nearly a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office, and Lionsgate has sold more than 25 million Tyler Perry DVDs.
• Lionsgate also distributes Perry's popular television comedy series, Tyler Perry's House Of Payne.

LEDISI TO APPEAR IN L.A. REVIVAL OF 'ONCE ON THIS ISLAND'

Grammy nominated songstress Ledisi has signed on to make a brief return to the theater. The artist has been cast in a revival of the 1990 Broadway musical Once On This Island, set to run September 2nd through September 14th at the UCLA Freud Playhouse in Los Angeles. The musical will be one of four productions slated for the theater's first full season under the artistic direction of Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame.

• Once On This Island, with book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, set on a Caribbean island. The production will be directed by Billy Porter and choreographed by Bradley "Shooz" Rapier. Ledisi will play Asaka, Mother of Earth.
• The Oakland, California-based singer has had previous opera training, as well as several theater gigs on Broadway, where she workshopped an early version of The Color Purple and was an understudy for the Tony-winning hit Caroline Or Change.
• Earlier this year, Ledisi made a cameo appearance in the George Clooney film Leatherheads.
• Ledisi was nominated as best new artist, while her Verve debut Lost And Found was nominated for best R&B album at this year's Grammy ceremonies in February.
• Her current single from Lost And Found is "In The Morning."

CHRISTIAN BALE ATTENDS SPANISH PREMIERE; ASSAULT STORIES CONFLICT

The Dark Knight star Christian Bale, who could be facing assault charges in London, attending the film's premiere Wednesday night (July 23rd) in Barcelona, Spain, the Associated Press reports. The 34-year-old Welshman, accompanied by his wife, Sibi, and co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal, greeted hundreds of fans outside the theater and spent half an hour signing autographs. Although about 25 camera crews waited outside the theater, Bale didn't speak to reporters.

Meanwhile, conflicting stories are emerging regarding the alleged assault that led Bale into police custody on Tuesday (July 22nd). Upon his release later that day, Bale denied that he assaulted his mother and sister on Sunday (July 20th) as they'd told authorities. But sources on the set of his latest project, Terminator Salvation, said that the 34-year-old actor recently displayed his temper on set by verbally attacking the director of photography.

• Sources told TMZ.com on Wednesday (July 23rd) that Bale has been estranged from his mother since his parent's divorce 20 years ago, and that Jenny Bale has been harboring bitterness over the actor's success ever since. Sources close to the situation reportedly think that the altercation was prompted by the elder Bale, who now could shop her side of the story to newspapers and magazines for big money.
• Other sources have told the British press that the argument escalated when Bale's mother insulted his wife. "He regrets the way she treated him in their argument a lot more than having to talk to the police about it," a source told the Daily Mail. "Christian has admitted that something just snapped, but he didn't threaten anyone with violence."